Ephesians 3:20 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us…”
I was reminded of this verse recently,
and I love this verse not only because it has proven true in my own life but
because of how exciting the promises of the verse are. Many times we nonchalantly say, myself
included, “God has a plan”, “God will work it out”, “God is able to overcome
any situation.” While all these
statements are so incredibly true and we offer them with the intention of
comfort, our actions and behavior sometimes represent the exact opposite. My friends, God is able to fix, heal, do, finish, work, give, and much more than
you or I could ever dream of. Now, we
just need to start acting like it!
I heard Beth Moore speak recently
about Joseph. I went to Genesis and
re-read the story of Joseph, and man, if anyone had a reason to doubt or feel
sorry for himself, Joseph did. We learn
that Joseph was a victim of harsh
treatment. He was kidnapped, sold as a
slave more than once, falsely accused, and put into prison…and much of this by
his own family! Through it all Joseph
remained faithful in believing that God was able to deliver him from his
hardships. I ask you today—what are your
hardships? What areas are you the
victim? What areas are you
misunderstood? What areas of your life
consume you and have made you a slave to them?
Is it family? Your job? A relationship? A friend or loved one who has turned from you
and God? Is it an obsession or an
insecurity that you are addicted to? The
list goes on. I would venture to say
that we all have something in our lives where we are wondering if even God is
able to conquer it.
I decided to break down Ephesians 3:20 to really
see what God wants us to know. First of
all, take the word now. Now…not tomorrow, not after (fill in the
blank), not when the stars align…now is the time to start believing that God is
able. God is able at any time but we
must choose to believe.
The next word, able. Able means ability; having the power, skill, means, or opportunity to do
something. If we believe all of God’s
Word and He wrote it, then we should believe He has the ability to conquer
whatever it is. He wrote the
instructions on how to accomplish things.
He is the power that makes anything possible.
Now to my favorite
part, the words exceedingly, abundantly, above. I love these words because
so many times we limit ourselves to thinking, “if I could just get this”, or
“if this would just happen” everything in my life would be perfect. What we forget is if we received everything
or if plans went according to our perfect dreams, life might seem perfect in
our tiny little minds, but that “perfect” life still wouldn’t even touch all
that God has planned for us if we would just let Him…or better yet believe
Him.
Take the word exceed. This word means to an advanced
or unusual degree or to go beyond an expectation. We should know this about our God that He
doesn’t do anything that is limited or usual.
He doesn’t just meet expectations, He is and goes beyond the
expectation.
Abundantly means fullness to overflowing; more than adequate; over-sufficient. I love how He chose to use this word to
remind us that He doesn’t just give us exactly what we need, He gives us an
overflow of exactly what we need. He
doesn’t ration out his power. He gives
and when we think we are full, He keeps on giving. Just like Grandma forces us to eat her good
cookin’. She is trying to “fatten” us
up. I wonder if God ever says, “Carey
I’m just trying to fatten you up on my good stuff!”
The last word in this great phrase
is above. If God will go beyond our expectations
(exceedingly) by giving us more than we could imagine (abundantly) then why
wouldn’t we expect Him to take it one step further and go to an extended
space; go above our heads (above). I have sat in many conversations where the
content was just way “over my head”. I
couldn’t grasp it. I think it’s no
coincidence that God is able to go so far above my head. And by the way, the further above our head,
the closer to glory He is. Anything we
can wrap our heads around, we tend to take the credit for. But God steps in and says that He is going to
do something that there is no way anyone would ever believe you or I had a hand
in. The glory is mine, He says!
The last part of the verse says, according
to the power that worketh in us. If we are child of God, if we believe in His
holy and precious name, then we have His power within us to overcome, conquer, and
rise above anything in our lives.
Part of His power is to help us forget. Forgetting something that someone has said
and done to you is hard and requires a great deal of humility. If you’re not willing to humble yourself to
forgive and forget, then you’re not ready for God to go exceedingly, abundantly, above all
that you ask of Him. Take Joseph for instance. Despite all that he had been through, Joseph
let God’s power help him forget. Genesis
41:51 says,” And
Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my
father's house.” He names is first
son Manasseh which means forgetting. It
is so refreshing to know that Joseph did not live in the past. He did not let his past make him a slave to
insecurity, revenge, or a hard heart. If
he had, then he would have missed all that God was going to do in his
life. Because God’s power allowed him to
forget, he became fruitful. Genesis 41:52 says, “And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land
of my affliction.” Ephraim means
just that, fruitful. It is a fear of
mine that I will not make the most of what God gives me. I fear that too many of us hold on to past
hurts and our afflictions that we are not able to be fruitful. God’s power within us allows us to be
fruitful no matter what our afflictions are.
Joseph, just as we should, learned to cherish the blessings of the
present. If we would stop to see all
that we do have right in front of us we would be humbled with shame for ever
whining about what happened or didn’t happen in the past. We spend so much time looking back that we
can’t even recognize the presence of God right now. We miss His hand on the situation right
now. We ignore His purpose in allowing
our suffering right now.
I believe the most profound thing
about the way Joseph lived his life was that in the midst of his affliction he
believed God was able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that he could
have ever asked or thought. You and I
will fall into one of two categories.
We will choose
to say we believe God is able but not let our actions/words reflect it. We will never forgive, never forget, not show
humility, not be fruitful and prosperous, and we’ll drag God’s name and
reputation down with every complaint about “our afflictions”.
We will choose
to say we believe God is able and actually live like we believe. We will always forgive, forget, show humility
no matter what, and we will be fruitful in telling others about how good God is
despite our afflictions. We will lift
His name, power, and ability to conquer all that life throws at us with
behavior and an attitude that says, “I’m going to praise Him no matter
what!”
Obviously
the second choice is much more difficult.
But, according to the power within
us it is possible. Again, if we were
able to forgive, forget, be humble, and be fruitful on our own, then we
wouldn’t need God.
